The men disguised themselves as Alianza supporters to trick their way into the offices in the upmarket Lima district of Miraflores.

Once inside, they held up employees at gunpoint and made off with the money which Alianza received for taking part in the first round of the Copa Sudamericana and which was due to be used to pay the players this month.

The incident completed a bad week for Alianza, who sacked coach Franco Navarro on Monday following poor results in the second stage of the Peruvian championship. He has been replaced by Jose 'Chepe' Torres.

Alianza were due to face Ecuador's Barcelona in the second leg of their Copa Sudamericana tie on Thursday night, needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit to progress.

Reaching the second round would at least provide another payday from the South American Football Confederation (CSF).

Peruvian clubs are in serious financial difficulties and players at Alianza's local rivals Universitario are threatening to go on strike if they are not paid one-and-a-half months worth of outstanding wages by the end of the week.

Coach Oswaldo Piazza has also threatened to resign from the beleaguered club, which won the first stage of the championship but then had to disband because of financial difficulties.

Last year, Universitario players also refused to train after water at the club's training ground was cut off for non-payment of bills.

The situation appears to be even worse at Chiclayo-based club Juan Aurich, who are bottom of the championship.